Grosset Springvale Watervale Riesling 2005

Best Riesling, The Penguin Good Australian Wine Guide 2007 
Matthew Jukes Top 100 Australian Wines of 2006 

The Grosset Springvale Riesling may sit somewhat in the shadow of its Polish Hill sibling but it is in its own right one of the benchmark rieslings of the Clare Valley. It is renowned for its aromatic complexity, pure fruit flavours and mouth-watering slatey acidity. The wine is fresh and mineral, typified by lemon curd, lime and chamomile aromas and generous flavours. A classic acid cut runs through the core, providing superb line and mineral length. The first vintage of the Grosset Springvale Riesling was produced in 1981.

"Brilliant length, brilliant regional typicity, aflame with lime and slate and ringing with spices and tropical flourishes and various other exotic temptations. Gorgeously pure and clean and long, and ready to rip any time from now."  Campbell Mattinson

"The 2005 Grosset Watervale Riesling is very much in the mould of previous vintages of this wine – especially those since 2002. Quality is up, however, and this wine is the best since 2002 and at this stage looks to be the equal of that vintage. It has greater intensity and more finesse than most of the Grosset Watervale Rieslings. The 2005 is fragrant with some floral hints and lemony, limey aromas; has intense lemon, lime flavours with underlying minerality; tight structure, before a long finish featuring fine, crisp, drying acidity. Although it is lean (almost austere) and powerful, it is still juicy, generous and fleshy. As usual, many will find it more approachable at a much younger age than the Grosset Polish Hill, and it will improve with medium-term cellaring. This is the 25th consecutive release of the Grosset Watervale Riesling, this year produced entirely from riesling grown in the Springvale vineyard."  Grosset

Expert reviews

"This is a magical riesling. The haunting fragrance suggests dried flowers, stone-fruit blossoms and minerals; the palate is creamy-textured, flawlessly balanced and precise, with impressive concentration but also supreme delicacy. A delicious array of refined flavours linger on and on. Quality: 5 glasses. Previous outstanding vintages: All of them."  Ralph Kyte-Powell & Huon Hooke, The Penguin Good Australian Wine Guide 2007 - 96 points and Best Riesling  ★★★★★

"2005 is obviously the best Clare riesling vintage since the brilliant, but unusually late and cool 2002 season that created wines of such unusual perfume and intensity. Most of the 2005 rieslings I have tasted to date share an openness and a brightness; a rare purity of fruit and a wonderful balance with natural acids. They are dangerously easy to drink now, but should cellar with great distinction.

From Grosset's new Springvale vineyard at an altitude of 460 metres in Watervale comes his 2005 Watervale Riesling. Its red loam soil overlies limestone and Mintaro slate, and Grosset's fastidious approach to viticulture results in crops of exceptional evenness and intensity. To taste the 2005 release and realise that the vines responsible for it are only seven years old is a remarkable thing. They are planted close for riesling, at 2000 vines per hectare, and in 2005 produced a startling 7.5 grams per litre of natural acidity. While many Australian winemakers have become rather artful at adding acids to their wines, few would argue against the notion that the best acid is natural acid.

A stylish and tightly presented riesling with balance, brightness and focus. Its pristine perfume of lime juice and lemon rind reveals undertones of tropical fruit and stonefruit. Laced with suggestions of melon and peach, its fine, taut and minerally palate is underpinned by fine, powdery phenolics, delivering almost an opulent expression of primary citrus-like flavour. Terrific persistence and chalkiness; a top effort. Drink 2013-2017+."  Jeremy Oliver, www.onwine.com.au - 96 points

"Jeff fashions serious Rieslings for his knowing audience. The beautiful 2005 vintage has allowed the Watervale cuvée to show very well in its youth. Buy it – this is GREAT wine."  Matthew Jukes - 18.5/20 points and Top 100 Australian Wines of 2006 

"This is winemaker Jeffrey Grosset's 25th riesling vintage and it's a cracker. The Watervale is vibrant and lively with a nose of lime and crunchy apples and pears. Those characters follow through on the palate, building to a tangy crispness with its ultra-fresh lemony acidity finish. All-in-all, a racy wine."  Jane Faulkner, The Age

"Brilliant length, brilliant regional typicity, aflame with lime and slate and ringing with spices and tropical flourishes and various other exotic temptations. Gorgeously pure and clean and long, and ready to rip any time from now. Drink: 2005-2013."  Campbell Mattinson, Winefront Monthly - 93 points

"Jeffrey Grosset is a modern-day legend in the world of riesling, and rightly so. His 2005s are right on song. The Polish Hill was preferred over the Watervale, but not by much. The Watervale is a little more doughy on the nose, more peach-blossom than citrus, very long with a bone-dry almost salty finish, like sucking on a pebble. Caillard described it as aromatic, elegant wine with a quartz-like minerality and lovely texture. Both are well worth cellaring for 12 plus years."  Australian Gourmet Traveller Wine - ★★★★★

Awards

Top 100 Australian Wines of 2006 - Matthew Jukes
Best Riesling - The Penguin Good Australian Wine Guide 2007 

Springvale vineyard 

The Grosset Springvale Vineyard is a six‑hectare, organically certified vineyard situated off Springvale Road in the Clare Valley. It is a hilltop site at one of Watervale's highest elevations (460 metres above sea level), with high exposure to sunlight. The vineyard is part of a much larger property at Watervale, however, the balance of the property is being progressively returned to native vegetation as greater species diversity facilitates natural pest and disease management.

The vineyard is relatively close-planted at 2,500 vines per hectare and produces an average of just two-and-a-half bottles of wine per vine. The vineyard comprises three clones of Riesling, Clone GM110 (tight bunches, floral, Germanic and spiced), Clone 156 (rare clone from Jesuit inspiration, loose bunch, mellow, spiced, limes, steely) and Clone GM198 (most commonly used in Australia; spiced, luscious, generous). The sturdy and resilient vines produce compact yellow-green bunches of moderate sized berries.

The Springvale Vineyard is a unique viticultural site due to its geology, relative isolation and high altitude. The thin topsoils are red loams interspersed with shale over limestone and, atypical for this sub-region,  the vines are deeply rooted into slate bedrock. This formation dates back many hundred million years. There is a north-south fault line on the eastern border that limits the vineyard's expansion.

The cool-fermented Grosset Springvale Riesling is renowned for its aromatic complexity, pure fruit flavours and mouth-watering slatey acidity. The wine is fresh and mineral, typified by lemon curd, lime and chamomile aromas and generous flavours. A classic acid cut runs through the core, providing superb line and mineral length.

 The four Grosset estate-owned vineyards

About Jeffrey Grosset

"Jeffrey Grosset wears the unchallenged mantle of Australia's foremost riesling maker. Grosset's pre-eminence is recognised both domestically and internationally."  James Halliday

Grosset was 15 when his father, an electrician, came home with a bottle of wine and shared it with the family. It was riesling and Jeffrey was gobsmacked. So began the Grosset story. The following year Jeffrey enrolled at Roseworthy Agricultural College, completing an Agriculture degree in 1973 and an Oenology degree in 1975. At the age of 21 Jeffrey started work at Seppelt Great Western, before heading to a German winery with a 1000-tonne crush as assistant winemaker, only to find the chosen French winemaker had changed his mind, leaving Grosset in charge. He subsequently returned to Australia and worked at Lindeman's Karadoc winery with its 30,000-tonne crush. But ultimately he wanted to start his own label.

In 1981 Jeffrey purchased an old milk depot in the historic township of Auburn 1981 and established Grosset Wines. He produced four wines that vintage under his own label, 800 dozen bottles in total. Now, 42 years later, Grosset is regarded as arguably the best maker of riesling in Australia and produces nine wines and 11,000 bottles per vintage. 

Grosset is not shy about challenging tradition and questioning accepted practices. In the late 1980s, he was the leader of a successful movement to only allow the use of the word Riesling on Australian wines that were made specifically from the Riesling grape. Until that point, a significant number of Australian wines with Riesling on their label were made from other grape varieties. 

Grosset was also the driving force behind a decision in 2000 by Clare Valley Riesling producers to switch to screwcap closures for their wines and to encourage Australian and New Zealand winemakers to do the same, and for the public, retailers and media to embrace the change. He continues to privately fund research into the subject.

Next, he established the Grosset Gaia Fund, donating to charities supporting youth, the arts and the environment. Recently he has led the way for Australian winemakers to use blockchain technology for verification of product provenance, authenticity and seal integrity.

Jeffrey Grosset has received a great deal of local and international recognition for his winemaking. In 1998, he was the first recipient of "Australian Winemaker of the Year" from Gourmet Traveller Wine magazine and was named the "International Riesling Winemaker of the Year" at the Riesling Summit in Hamburg, Germany. He was nominated in 2005 as one of the world's "50 Most Influential Winemakers" by Wine & Spirits and in 2006, named as one of the "Top 10 White Winemakers" in the world by Decanter magazine. 

Grosset's philosophy has remained steadfast over the years, the emphasis is on purity of fruit. The estate vineyards, which are ACO certified organic, are hand-tended and each bunch of grapes is harvested at optimum ripeness. The winemaking process is gentle and uncomplicated. With dedication, discipline and the application of knowledge garnered through decades of experience, the result is the finest expression of variety and place.